Grenade-thrower



S. P. JOHNSON.

GRENADE THROWER.

APPLICATION FILED MAIR. 12. 1920. 1,374,854. Patented Apr. 12, 1921.

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Specification of Letters Patent.

.' Patented Apr. 12,1921.

Application filed March 12, 1920. SeriaI No. 365,333.

(FILED UNDER. THE Acr'or Manon a, 1883, 22 sun 1., 625.) c

To all whom it may cmwern:

Be it known that I, STUARrP. JOHNSON, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Washington, in the District-of C'olumbia, have invented an Improvement in Grenade-Throwers, of which the following is a specification.

The invention used by the Government, or any of its ofiicers orv employees in prosecution of work for the Government, or b I any other person in the United States, without payment of any royalty thereon.

The subject of this invention is an ordnance de'viceintended, primarily, as a gr "nade thrower or gun;

In providin a device of this character, it is well to so esignit that standard forms of ammunition may beused so as to avoid a multiplicity'ofexplosiveunits to b e'distributed to and usedby-troop's. Itjis. also desirable from a standpoint of economy to utilize, where possible, parts of other disin this form of ordnance device which has necessitatedresting the stock or buttof the the ground or against some fixed 'Firing under such circumstances device on support.

necessarily means that accuracy of aim is.

ve shght.

he present invention aims to overcome.

the foregoingl objections or defects and this is accomplis ed, broadly, by providing a grenade thrower constructed to permit gas to escape from a-service cartridge and exert very "little propelling force upon the bullet, whileat the same time, exerting an even and efiective'pressure' upon the grenade, to-

described herein may be,

is. shown in the to have a solid the .weight of the missile to.

particular like portion of a shot gether with means for absorbing the shock ue to recoil. I

Specifically, the invention consists ina dischargerradapted to be fitted to a lock-case or middle portion of a firearm, and having a cartridge chamber formed to permit exvpansionof the neck of the cartrid e-case.

and having a straight lined stock an are 0011 absorber associated therewith. With these and other objects in view,

the

invention consistsin the1novel arrangement and combination of parts and.in the details ofi construction hereinafter described and claimed, it being understood that changes in the precise embodiment of the invention herein disclosed may be made within the scope of what is claimed without from the spirit of the invention.

A practical embodiment of-the invention departing Figure 1 is a view in side elevation, par ly in section, of an ordnance device constructed in accordance with my invention;

accompanying drawing,

- .Fig. 2 is adetail view in longitudinal secin place therein; I

K 1g, 3 is a similar 'vlew of the discharger, with the cartridge removed;

Fig. 4 is a fra entary viewin sidej elevation of a grena e adapted'for use with thev device.v

Referring to the drawingby numerals of I 85.

The firing -mechanism of an ordinary eld rifle is indicated generallyat reference Springfi 10' and includes the trigger 10'; and the 'tion' of the discharger, showing a cartridge bolt-10 carrying the extractor 10. Th'isf'] portion 10 is cut ofi and threaded or tap ed part 10 as identical with a similar portion of'the Springfield-rifle, it isto be underv.90 to intermesh with the threads 11 forme. on .the stem 12 of a discharger 13; I

-Whi1e I have,shown and described the stood that I am not confining myself to y .f

alone, as

or may have a-special anism constrlbted for it The. discharger 13 has formeiin the stem style of rifle, nor lndeed, torifiesthedevice may be ada ted, gulfz or other fire arm. 0c

and firingme'che 0 'such shoulder a seat is formed 12, a cartridge chamber 14 having a portion 15 of reduced adapted to receive the neck 16- of the cartridge-case 17. The diameter of the portion 15 of the cartridge chamber is greater than that of the neck 16 of the cartridge so that the wallsof this portion are spaced an appreciable dist'ance from the outer surface of the neck 16. This allows the neck 16 to expand under the force of the gases formed by ignition of the powder and relieve the force tending to expel the bullet while allowing the gas to readily and uni-- formly fill the gas chamber and impinge upon the grenade.

The main body of the discharger 13 is formed with a gas chamber 19, into the-rear of which the cartridge chamber opens, and with an annular shoulder 20 which defines the junction of the gas chamber with .the grenade receiving bore 21. By providing for the grenade which insures a proper positioning of the grenade to secure a gas chamber of uniform volume.

To the rear end of the portion 10 is secured, in any suitable manner, the stock which consists of a straight tubular member 22, closed at its forward end'and adapted to telescope into a tubular member 23 positioned in a cavity or bore formed in shoulder stock 24. Gas checks of any suitable form are interposed between-the tubular members 22 and 23, those herein shown consisting of split rings 25 which encircle the tubular member 22 and which are seated in grooves formed therein.

The rear end of the tubular member 23 is herein shown as closed by a disk 26 which is centrally apertured and tapped to receive the threadedend 27 of a rod 28 which rod is preferably angular in cross section place in the disk by means of a lock nut 29 threaded on the rearwardly extending end of the threaded portion 27. The rod 28 extends forwardly into the tubular member 22 passing through an angular aperture formed in a disk or wall 30 secured in the .member 22 and has attached to its forward end, as by threading, as shown, a piston 31 formed with gas check rings 32 and adapted to be reclprocated with respect to the member 22. A resilient elementr'Such as the coil spring 33 which'surroulids the rod 38 and is confined between and is locked in the respectivedisks 26 and 30 serves to retain the tubular members in proper extended position. The shoulder stock 24 may be provided with the usual butt plate 3 1 and with a ferrule 35 which encircles the forward end of the shoulderstock and protects the same against injury.

While the device is usually used so that the gas formed bythe explosion of the diameter or bore and the r charge of an ordinary service cartridge will propel the grenade or projectile it may, when a heavy grenade is used, have an extra charge inserted to secure the extra pro.- pelling force desired Under these circumstances a grenade or projectile, such as that shown in Fig; 4, havingthe body 35 to the rear of which is attached in any convenient and desired manner a powder or explosive charge 36 may be used and inserted in place in the discharger 13. As will be seen, the extra explosive charge will be positioned in the gas chamber where it will be readily ignited by the explosion of the service cartridge. Should it be desired, the extra charge of explosive may be placed in the discharger before the grenade is positioned therein, the action then being the same as that just described.

In practice the device is operated in the following manner: 1

The grenade or projectile is placed in the discharger and comes to rest upon the annular shoulder20; A service cartridge is inserted in the cartridge chamber in the usual manner. The firing mechanism is operated through means of to explode the charge in the cartridge. Upon "explosion of the charge the neck 16 of the cartridge-case is expanded to the diameter of the portion 15 of the cartridge chamber,'thus permitting the gases to escape about the bullet 18 into the gas chamber 19 and to impinge upon the grenade and expel the same violently from the discharger 13. The escape of the'gases about the bullet so reduces the active propelling force upon bullet 18 that the bullet travels comparatively slowlythrough the discharger and for a short distance therebeyond and selom, if ever, contacts the grenade so that with delicate grenade structures, no injury thereof is had by reason of the bullet comthe trigger 10 I This action will trap'air between the disk I 30 and disk 26 and also between the piston 32 and the head of the member 22, causing a cushioning effect and absorbing the shock of the recoil. The parts are restored to normal position by means of the expansive force of the sprin 33. This absorption of the recoil permits t e device to be fired from the'shoulder, and hencefgreater accuracy of aim is secured.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. In an ordnance device, a discharger having a major missile bore, a cartridge chamber including a neck receiving portion having a. c

chamber and a. gas'distributingchamber becommunicating .with the bore, the diameter of the neck receiving portion being greater than the outer diameter of the neck of ,a cartridge.

2.. In an. ordnance device, a dischar er ma or missile bore, a cartri ge tween the major bore and cartridgecham her and in communication with each, the

cartridge chamber having aneck receiving 10 portion of diameter 0 the neck of a cartridge adapted eater diameter than the outside for use therein. c

7 'i- STUART P. JOHNSON/ 

